PSLE English Learning Guide · Guide 68 · Grammar Cloze workshop
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“The pupil ___ found the wallet took it to the office.”
The blank links the pupil to extra information.
Because the pupil is a person and also performs the action found, who is a natural choice.
Now compare:
“The wallet ___ Mira found was under the chair.”
The missing relative word now refers to a thing, and the thing is the object of found.
Relative-clause questions are therefore reference-and-role questions.
The current 2026 PSLE English Language format includes Grammar Cloze in Paper 2 Booklet B. This guide owns one narrow job under the broad Grammar Cloze owner: link the correct noun to the correct extra information using a relative structure that preserves person, thing, possession, place, time and sentence role.
Choose the relative-clause difficulty you actually have
If you choose by noun type only, begin with role in clause. If you confuse who and whose, use possession. If where replaces a place noun incorrectly, use where. If which/that seem interchangeable, use which and that. If the clause is extra rather than identifying, use defining versus extra information. If the noun being described is unclear, use attachment.
Role · Who · Whose · Which/that · Where/when · Attachment · Main passage · Independent practice
Find the missing role inside the relative clause
Sentence:
The pupil ___ found the key returned it.
Inside the relative clause:
___ found the key.
The blank is the subject of found.
Person + subject role → who is natural.
Object role
The pupil ___ Mira thanked smiled.
Inside the relative clause:
Mira thanked ___.
The missing role is object.
In ordinary modern English, who is common; whom is more formal and may appear in careful grammar contexts.
The cloze options and sentence register matter.
Who refers to people
The volunteer who checked the names stood near the entrance.
The pupil who found the wallet took it to the office.
The teacher who organised the event arrived early.
Who is doing the action in these examples.
Who can also be object in common usage
The volunteer who I spoke to was helpful.
More formal:
The volunteer to whom I spoke was helpful.
Do not assume every person-object context requires whom in ordinary speech.
Whom appears in formal object roles
The pupil whom the teacher praised smiled.
Object test:
The teacher praised him/her.
If the replacement is an object pronoun, whom is structurally possible.
But school-level cloze tasks may prefer common forms depending on options and register.
Whose marks possession or belonging
The pupil whose bag was missing went to the office.
Meaning:
the pupil’s bag was missing.
Do not use who here because the blank must express ownership.
Whose can refer to things and organisations too
A school whose library is under renovation may use another room.
A book whose cover is torn needs repair.
Do not restrict whose to people only.
Which and that can refer to things
The box which contains the forms is on the table.
The box that contains the forms is on the table.
Both can work in many defining clauses.
Exact style and punctuation matter.
That can refer to people in defining clauses
The pupil that found the card returned it.
This is grammatical in many contexts, though who is often preferred for people in careful school writing.
Do not call every use of that for people ungrammatical.
Defining clauses identify which person or thing
The pupils who registered early received the first passes.
Which pupils?
Those who registered early.
The clause is necessary to identify the group.
Extra-information clauses add information about an already identified noun
Ms Tan, who organised the event, arrived early.
We already know which person: Ms Tan.
The clause adds extra information.
Commas matter.
That is not normally used in non-defining relative clauses
Natural:
Ms Tan, who organised the event, arrived early.
Not the standard pattern:
Ms Tan, that organised the event, arrived early.
Punctuation and clause type control the choice.
Where refers to place relationship
The room where we met was quiet.
Equivalent idea:
The room in which we met was quiet.
Where does not simply replace every place noun.
It represents a place relation inside the clause.
Do not add a second place preposition unnecessarily
Weak:
The room where we met in was quiet.
If where already carries the place relationship, the extra in is unnecessary in this standard pattern.
A place noun can still use which/that when the clause needs a different role
The room which has the projector is upstairs.
The room is the subject of has.
Where would not fit:
The room where has the projector…
Noun type alone is not enough; clause role matters.
When can refer to time
The day when the trial began was unusually quiet.
Equivalent:
The day on which the trial began…
But:
The day which surprised everyone…
Here day is the subject/object of a different relationship, so which can be appropriate.
Why can refer to reason in structures such as “the reason why”
The reason why the meeting moved was simple.
Also:
The reason the meeting moved was simple.
The reason for which… is much more formal.
Exact task wording controls the natural form.
Attach the relative clause to the noun it actually describes
Weakly ambiguous:
I spoke to the teacher beside the door who was holding the forms.
Who was holding the forms?
The teacher, probably—but the noun phrase can feel crowded.
Better:
I spoke to the teacher who was holding the forms beside the door.
Place the relative clause close to its noun.
Wrong attachment changes meaning
The pupils moved the chairs into the hall that were blocking the doorway.
Grammatically, that were blocking appears to modify hall, which is illogical.
Repair:
The pupils moved the chairs that were blocking the doorway into the hall.
Clause position matters.
Relative clauses can build reference chains
The volunteer who checked the forms spoke to the pupil whose name was missing.
Two relative clauses:
who checked the forms → volunteer.
whose name was missing → pupil.
Keep each clause attached to its noun.
Subject–verb agreement inside the relative clause follows the antecedent/reference
The pupil who is waiting…
The pupils who are waiting…
Relative word does not erase number agreement.
One of the pupils who…
She is one of the pupils who are helping.
The relative clause can refer to the pupils, plural.
But:
She is the only one of the pupils who is helping.
Now interpretation can shift depending on structure.
Do not solve agreement by looking only at the nearest noun mechanically.
Relative pronoun omission is possible in some object clauses
The book that Mira borrowed was new.
The book Mira borrowed was new.
The object relative word can be omitted in this common defining pattern.
But subject relative pronouns cannot simply disappear:
Incorrect:
The pupil found the wallet returned it.
when intended meaning is “The pupil who found the wallet returned it.”
Prepositions can appear before or later in the clause
Formal:
The person to whom I spoke…
Common:
The person who I spoke to…
For things:
The room in which we met…
The room which we met in…
Register and task design matter.
Main original Grammar Cloze: The Book Repair Team
Choose suitable relative words. This passage is original eduKate teaching material.
The pupils (1) ___ volunteered for Book Care Week met in the library. Ms Tan, (2) ___ had organised the activity, showed them a tray (3) ___ contained damaged books.
The first pupil (4) ___ task was to check loose covers worked beside the librarian. The table (5) ___ they placed the repaired books stood near the window.
One storybook (6) ___ cover had come loose needed extra attention. The pupil (7) ___ repaired it used a strip of paper tape. Friday was the day (8) ___ the repaired books were returned to the shelves.
Worked answers
1. who — people; subject of volunteered.
2. who — non-defining extra information about Ms Tan.
3. that/which — thing; subject of contained.
4. whose — possession: pupil’s task.
5. where — place relation: placed books there. On which could work in a different formal structure.
6. whose — possession: book’s cover.
7. who — person; subject of repaired.
8. when — time relation.
Role map for the main passage
1 person + subject.
2 identified person + extra clause.
3 thing + subject.
4 possession.
5 place.
6 possession.
7 person + subject.
8 time.
This is more reliable than memorising “people = who, things = which” because it includes role and relationship.
Twelve relative-clause micro-items
- The pupil ___ found the key returned it.
- The key ___ Mira found was under the chair.
- The pupil ___ bag was missing went to the office.
- The room ___ we met was quiet.
- The room ___ has the projector is upstairs.
- Monday was the day ___ the trial began.
- Ms Tan, ___ organised the event, arrived early.
- The chairs ___ were blocking the door were moved.
- The volunteer ___ I spoke to was helpful.
- The person to ___ I spoke was helpful. Formal form.
- The book ___ cover was torn was repaired.
- The reason ___ the venue changed was explained later.
Suggested answers
1. who.
2. that/which, or omission in some defining object-clause contexts if structure permits.
3. whose.
4. where.
5. that/which.
6. when.
7. who.
8. that/which.
9. who/whom depending on register.
10. whom.
11. whose.
12. why / that / omission depending on full sentence design.
Independent original Grammar Cloze: The Reading Corner
The school created a reading corner for pupils (1) ___ wanted a quiet place before lessons. The corner, (2) ___ was beside the library, had six tables.
The pupils (3) ___ feedback cards mentioned that the area was less quiet during recess. The route (4) ___ led to the printer passed beside the tables. The librarians therefore moved the queue to a corridor (5) ___ had more space.
The week (6) ___ they tested the new route was unusually busy, giving the librarians more information about whether the change worked.
Independent reasoning guide
1. people + subject.
2. extra information about a known place noun; thing/which relation.
3. possession: pupils’ feedback cards.
4. thing + subject of led.
5. place noun functioning as subject of had; which/that, not where.
6. time relation: when.
Relative-clause error ledger
Who/which selected from noun type only. Check clause role.
Whose replaced by who. Look for possession.
Where used when place noun is subject. Rebuild inner clause.
That used after commas in non-defining clause. Check clause type.
Relative clause attached to wrong noun. Move it closer.
Subject relative pronoun omitted. Check missing subject.
Agreement ignores antecedent number. Track reference.
Parent and tutor guide: rebuild the hidden sentence
For:
The pupil ___ found the key…
Ask:
Who found the key? → the pupil.
For:
The book ___ Mira borrowed…
Ask:
Mira borrowed what? → the book.
For:
The pupil ___ bag was lost…
Ask:
Whose bag? → the pupil’s.
This hidden-sentence method makes the role visible before choosing the relative word.
The Relative Clause card
Which noun am I describing? Person, thing, place, time or owner? What role is missing inside the relative clause—subject, object, possession or location? Is the clause identifying the noun or adding extra information? Does the relative word attach to the correct noun and preserve agreement?
Relative clauses work when reference and sentence role remain connected.
Batch 17 routes
65 Verb Form and Time Sequence · 66 Determiners and Countability · 67 Prepositions · 68 Relative Clauses
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Sources and boundaries
Assessment boundary: SEAB: PSLE formats examined in 2026 and the linked English Language syllabus. Grammar Cloze appears in Paper 2 Booklet B.
Teaching boundary: All passages, blanks and answer discussions are original eduKate material. Relative-clause role maps are teaching tools; where multiple standard forms are possible, the guide acknowledges them instead of inventing a single official answer.